Hall Thruster Visualization & Animation – Tempe

INSTITUTION

Arizona State University (Tempe Campus)

CLASS

Cobalt Class (2019 – 2020)

STUDENT TEAM

Matt Bradford, Computer Systems Engineering
Nicholas Breuer, Computer Systems Engineering
William Kostecki, Computer Systems Engineering
Sina Malek, Computer Systems Engineering
Matthew McKinstry, Engineering Management
Samuel Zirbel, Computer Systems Engineering

ACADEMIC GUIDANCE

Dr. Joe Juarez, Lecturer, School of Computing, Informatics, and Decision Systems Engineering, ASU
Dr. Ryan Meuth, Senior Lecturer, School of Computing, Informatics, and Decision Systems Engineering, ASU

PROJECT DESCRIPTION

The Psyche mission will rely on Hall thrusters (a form of electric propulsion) in order to propel the spacecraft on its journey to (16) Psyche. Despite their extensive use on-board a variety of spacecraft, these thrusters are largely unfamiliar to the general public. In this project, the team is creating an entertaining interactive visualization depicting how these thrusters work and the benefits of using them for a general audience.

This work was created in partial fulfillment of Arizona State University Capstone Course “CSE 423”. The work is a result of the Psyche Student Collaborations component of NASA’s Psyche Mission (https://psyche.asu.edu). “Psyche: A Journey to a Metal World” [Contract number NNM16AA09C] is part of the NASA Discovery Program mission to solar system targets. Trade names and trademarks of ASU and NASA are used in this work for identification only. Their usage does not constitute an official endorsement, either expressed or implied, by Arizona State University or National Aeronautics and Space Administration. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of ASU or NASA.